The Forest Shawl Continues

In which I discuss planning the Forest Shawl.

Planning the warp design.

Beginning the Forest Shawl

I’m writing up the process of making a woven shawl on my new blog, so I thought I should post a link here so everyone can find it. This is not a fancy weave: just something simple to practice basic skills and to use up some stash.

Selecting yarns is a tricky process.

 After much searching, I chose a hand-painted sock yarn and three Knit Picks Palette yarns to coordinate. The sock yarn was supposed to become a Clapotis shawl, but once it was out of the skein I didn’t like it. Plus, when I bought it, I forgot that Clapotis calls for worsted weight yarn. (Still haven’t knit a Clapotis.)

The Knit Picks yarn was supposed to be shadow-knit pillows. I love shadow-knits, but I quickly discovered that I hate knitting them. Especially in DK-weight yarn.

Exhaustive detail about planning this can be found in the post “Planning the Forest Shawl”. I will continue to cross-post here.

a walk down memory wire

I've got my beading stuff spread out (there really is no need for a formal dining table anyway).   Found a little group of number beads, which I'd intended to make into a nursing bracelet for a deserving friend or relative.  But of course I didn't have any memory wire (which is stiff-ish wire to make bracelets that don't need clasps) ... and of course that required an online visit to firemountaingems.com.   All in the name of finishing a project, right?  It's a dangerous site, because they are a bit expensive, until you buy a certain quantity.  at 15 items, there is a price break.  at 50 items, another price break, and so on...

Well, at least the package came on my birthday, so it was kind of like a birthday present to me.  :)

I've only worked with memory wire once before, because I remember it being a royal pain in the kiester to manipulate.  This wire was awesome and very easy - perhaps because I must have fortuitously chosen a smaller gauge / diameter.

The way this bracelet works is that every bead represents 15 minutes, and you take the little lobster claw charm (which is hanging down towards the bottom right corner here) and move it to represent the time at which you last fed your babe.  if you're breastfeeding, you move the bracelet to the side that you  last fed on or the one you will need to feed on next (as long as you remember which it was).  so for example, this bracelet is set to reflect 8:30.

The pink and purple beads are from my neighbor's vintage collection.  I threw in the variegated brown ones to try and modulate the loudness of the colors a bit.  I fear it is too pink for the intended recipient.  I figure that I'm not a pink person at all, but I kind of like this hot pink.  So I hope she likes it.

Wind beneath my wings

pattern:  Wingspan (over 4000 projects in Ravelry!)

yarn:  Noro Taiyo sock, found at the Midwest Fiber Fair

recipient:  a friend, for her 40th birthday

Love this pattern!!   Super easy - it's basically a whole lot of garter stitch and short rows.  Perfect traveling project.  Most of this was knitted at the pool this summer.  The original pattern is a "shawlette" and only called for 8 triangles, but I basically kept going till the end of the skein because I was envisioning more of a scarf.  3g of yarn left!

I think I see one of these in my future for myself ...

cover up

  I did a bit of sewing a while ago and can finally post now that the baby is here and healthy :)

pattern:  nursing cover

fabric:  amy butler fabric - found at a lake forest church sale!  yards and yards of home decorator weight fabric, for only a few dollars!

I ordered some boning online for the top, so that the mother can peek down at the nursing babe.  on one corner is a little terrycloth for wiping;  on the other is a little pocket, for a pacifier if needed.

silk comfort

I made this for my friend in Houston, so I chose a fiber that was 100% silk by Araucania (Chaiten) - it's sort of a matte nubby finish, which is really nice and drapes really well.  I used the Lace Ribbon pattern that I love - so easy to memorize, easy to execute (once you get the hang of it), and looks complicated.  I made it a bit wider than the pattern so that she could use it as a shawl in the air-conditioned buildings that she works in.

It was originally intended as a prayer shawl of sorts - something to give her a modicum of comfort in the aftermath of her mother's recent death - but turned out to be a congratulations-on-your-engagement gift :)

In stitches

School has started!  I feel a collective sigh go through the neighborhood as all the area stay-at-home moms get a breather :)  So it is time to restart this blog - so much fiber to catch up on!

A couple of weeks ago we basked in Stitches Midwest.  Pat and I took a class on lining a knitted item - more on that in the next post.

Lots of color in the market.  This is the Derecho shawl, a pattern sold out everywhere we looked:

The other pattern of choice was Color Affection, an easy-looking yet breathtaking pattern that melds 3 skeins of contrasting sock yarn.  Many booths had various combinations put together for you, making the possibilities reachable.  Pat got one that was a dark red, beige, and I think gray - it's going to be stunning!  I think I want to do one too, but I'm going to cull from my stash because I really have more sock yarn than I know what to do with.

One thing I searched for was a bulky jewel-tone blue variegated yarn for a friend, for whom I offered to make the scarf of her yarn and pattern choice.  I tried to find it at a small purveyor, to no avail.  But I found it at WEBS - it's Berroco!  And yes, the color really is this electric.

I also got some black yarn to make this hat, which a friend saw on Pinterest and asked me to make.  Black, yech!  At least it's a crochet pattern.

In that same issue of Vogue Crochet, I saw this pattern for a lace pullover.    Intriguing.  I got some charcoal-y madeleinetosh yarn from WEBS to attempt it.

Craftsy.com was also advertising by giving away a free class.  Looks intriguing - take online classes in sewing, fiber arts, and cooking.  Probably exactly up my alley!

Every year at Stitches I try on this jacket and look at it longingly.  It's a kit, and every year they never have my colors (the sample is in these lovely jewel tones and the kits always seem to be pastel, like in the photo in the link), so I'm able to easily walk away.  But this year they had it in the most gorgeous deep blues and browns.  It was tough to walk away from it. Finally I decided that I would never have a chance to wear it - I'm just not a fancy kind of person, and if I'm going to get fancy, I'll wear something fancier than a jacket I knit myself.  And with my luck, I'd snag it on something anyway.

Anyways, I've got something else to obsess about and save my pocketbook for ... I want a knitting machine!  Something to help me with the miles of stockinette that these Habu patterns call for.  I was intrigued by the machine knitting booth - so easy! - and I'm going to check out a dealer (the only one within several hours of me) in a couple of weeks.  I had to make an appointment because it's an hour's drive and she works out of her home.